


The Hanged Man

by thatviciousvixen



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Here there be violence, I'm not super great at keeping things dark so it's somehow violent and fluffy?, In my head Hux has these twin sisters, M/M, Monsters, Original Character(s), and I needed him to have younger siblings in this, gothic horror, idk man I'm weird, so sorry deal with OC's just this once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 06:24:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6318187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatviciousvixen/pseuds/thatviciousvixen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The air is hot and sticky the day Hux moves to Savannah with his family. Despite the beauty of the house and the history of the city he can't wait to escape his temporary prison, to move up north and re-start his adult life. </p><p>As it turns out, being stuck with his family for the summer is the least of his worries. Because there are monsters in the woods, and one in particular has its eye on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hanged Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ocktorok](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ocktorok/gifts).



> This fic is dedicated to the super awesome and absolutely amazing [Ocktorok](http://ocktorok.tumblr.com) who since my very first Kylux fic on here has been supportive and kind and just super incredibly neat. They've got the most phenomenal Southern Gothic fic [Southern Comfort](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5777599/chapters/13315243) (if you haven't read it you need to put this one aside and go their first it's the BEST) so I wanted to show some monster Kylux love as a thank you!
> 
> Also huge thanks to [moonwalkingcrab](http://moonwalkingcrab.tumblr.com) and [dcdreamer23](http://dcdreamer23.tumblr.com) who beta read for me to check for my shitty typos!

Savannah is sticky with heat, the humidity and clouds of gnats pressing in around Hux as he stands on the porch of his new home. He’s sure that most people would find it to be a lovely place. The history of it is as thick as the moisture in the air; every step he takes and every door he opens presents him with some brand new, very old thing that he’s sure he should be quite impressed by. And it’s pretty enough, in its own way. A grand, sweeping plantation home in the middle of a lush green lawn, the house is two stories with neoclassical pillars framing the porches, wrought iron railings attached between them. Everything has been painted an overwhelming white, stark against the red roses planted underneath the first floor window sills and the ivy that climbs the walls. A thin driveway leads from the main road to the house, lined with massive live oaks dripping with Spanish Moss. 

The yard itself is surrounded by a stone wall to keep people out. That was what sold his mother during the hunt for a new home. Behind the house is an old barn, and beyond that a thick line of trees separates the property from the swamps behind. He can just imagine an alligator or some other insidious creature crawling its way into their yard to gobble them up. Maybe they’ll get lucky and some terrible thing will eat their father before slithering back into the loam. That might be nice.

“This is going to be terrible,” Hux whispers to the empty yard before him, closing his eyes and drawing a breath to try and clear his head. He knows in the grand scheme of things he’ll only be here for six months. Six months is the unfortunate gap between graduating from University and starting his Master’s in engineering at a school up north in Boston. He just needs to last one small half of a year and then he’s free of all of this bullshit. 

A thunderous tapping of polished shoes on hardwood floors signals the approach of his sisters as they leave the house to join him on the porch. Hyllan and Brinn, twins of fourteen, are quite obviously delighted by their new home. Hux isn’t shocked. A home like this is something young girls read about in terrible, syrupy, young adult romance novels, and now they have one of their very own. In the fall they’ll start attending the private school just in town, complete with cotillions and etiquette training and handsome boys from rich families falling all over themselves to walk them home. He sighs and shakes his head.

“Huxxy, don’t you love it?” Hyllan squeals, taking his left hand as Brinn takes the right. “Isn’t it beautiful? Oh it’s so romantic, I could just die.”

“If you do there’s a convenient cemetery to bury you in,” Hux says, sounding supremely bored as he nods towards the property next door to their left. True to his word the crosses and columns of mausoleums and gravestones peek over their stone wall, a promise of things ever to come. To all of them.

“Oh Hux, don’t be so grumpy,” Brinn sighs, resting her head on his shoulder. For some reason he allows the small act of affection. He’s always been like this with the twins, fonder of them than their own parents are. Maybe that’s why. Maybe he understands what it is to grow up without the merest scrap of parental affection and he wishes to save them from that fate. It doesn’t hurt that there’s an entire decade between them and therefore no sibling rivalry. And that they’re quite adorable. He’d been the unhappy accident that had led to his parents’ hasty marriage. They were perfect and planned and impossible for him to feign indifference towards.

“You’re right, how positively awful of me,” he sighs. “Have you picked your bedrooms?”

“Oh yes,” Hyllan nods, auburn curls bouncing. He wishes he’d ended up with their coloring; hair of a deeper, richer red than the shock of ginger he’s inherited, eyes of clear, crystal blue instead of his hazy blue-green-gray-gold quagmire. The twins are as pretty as little dolls, perhaps that’s another reason he can’t help but be fond of them. They’re really quite perfect.

“Very well then, show me so I can take whatever is left.” He doesn’t really care where he sleeps. He only came back home to help tend to his sisters, their parents are almost always out of town and he doesn’t like the idea of them in such a large, imposing house all alone.

At the same time two delicate sets of hands tug at his own and the three of them move inside. As they open the door a grand staircase rises immediately before them, an ornate thing with polished steps and sturdy handrails that they grip as they ascend. At the top a balcony splits in either direction. The second level is open so that they can peer down to the first floor as the movers bring boxes into the foyer. The balcony wraps around the level with two doors on each wall save the front, which is instead covered in huge windows that let in a dizzying amount of sunlight. The twins show him to their chosen dwellings; naturally they’ve picked bedrooms just beside each other, adjacent rooms that look over the immense back yard and the magnolia trees that drop their pretty flowers onto the grass. 

“Very well,” he nods. As they step onto the interior balcony once more Hux takes stock of their surroundings. To his right men appear to be dragging his parents’ furniture into their chosen bedroom. His goal is to be as far away from them as possible. He walks to the left, passing one door before entering the second, closest to the front of the house. “This will be me then.”

The room is simple. It’s a good size, big enough for his large bed and numerous book cases and antique desk. There are double doors leading to what appears to be a balcony, that’ll be nice in the spring and fall when the air is cooler and the bugs aren’t so thick in the air. On the left wall is a door that leads to the bathroom shared between this room and the next.

“We don’t have balconies,” Brinn tells him, bouncing in. “But ours have lovely window seats, we like those better.”

“Young women oughtn’t have balconies that young men can climb to sneak inside,” Hux teases. “It’ll be a nightmare for me once you two find boyfriends.” He opens the doors, leading the girls out to look over the side yard. “Besides, you never know what sort of monster might climb a balcony to scoop you up and carry you away. I hear there are lots of ghosts in Savannah...”

Hyllan rests her hands on the balustrade, making a face. “Oh, you get the cemetery view. I’m sorry, Huxxy.”

Hux steps forward to join her, letting his eyes sweep over the graveyard. There’s something...calm about it. For some reason the worn stone and solemn looking marble angels soothe his troubled soul, calling to him from just over the garden wall. For a moment he can imagine how it might feel to be buried, the earth soft and cool and comforting above him.

He sighs, a small smile flitting over his face. “Don’t be. I’ll be fine.”

The first month passes in relative ease. Life is so busy adjusting to a new home that Hux barely sees his parents, they’re often called away on work or social visits or whatever it is rich people in the south do. Hux manages to pass the time as he always does, reading and writing and trying to improve his mind and body so he’ll have good habits instilled by the time he moves up north. In the mornings he wakes early, allowing himself a bitter cup of black coffee before he’s out for a run to wake himself up. Their neighborhood is strange. The houses are so spaced and the walls so high that it’s rare for him to actually see his neighbors. He likes it just fine that way, he hates playing nice for people he has little to no interest in. When he returns he showers and makes breakfast for the girls before rousing them from their beds and making them do something productive with their days. He can’t stand idleness, especially not when they’re young and bright and able bodied with so much potential.

On the rare occasion that the twins can wheedle him into it he drives them into town. Savannah has an odd sort of small town charm despite the big city population. He explores old book stores and antiques shops, trying to enjoy at least part of his day before his sisters drag him into that large obnoxious candy shop that takes up three store spaces overlooking the water. He allows them _one treat each_ which he pays for before dragging them back to the car so they can return home before their parents.

And that’s it. Some nights their parents are home for supper, some they aren’t. They have a woman who does the cooking for them; they pay her handsomely and she prepares organic meals with the twins dietary limitations carefully considered (no dairy for Brinn, no nuts for Hyllan). After supper they sit in the parlor and pretend to be a family as they each stick to their separate interests. The girls type furiously into their phones, Hux reads, their father goes over the work he’s constantly bringing home, and their mother browses fashion magazines. 

It’s fine. It’s all fine.

And then Brinn tells him of their strange visitor.

It’s one of the nights where their parents are gone. They’re out of town visiting one of father’s old coworkers, not expected back for two more nights. The children - if Hux can be called a child anymore - sit at the dining table picking at the thick and fragrant stew that’s been made for them and making small talk. That’s when Brinn speaks.

“I saw a man in the barn last night.” 

Hux’s head jerks up, eyes wide at the statement. After the initial shock wears off he frowns, shaking his head and spearing a carrot out of his dish. “Brinn don’t be stupid. I’m sure it was just a shadow or something, or your mind playing tricks on you.”

The twins look at each other, sharing a knowing glance. Hyllan speaks next. “She isn’t stupid. I saw him too.”

Hyllan, while just as excitable and giddy as her sister, is absolutely not one to make up stories or fantasies for attention. Hux sets his spoon down, clenching his hands into tight fists. “If you saw a man in the barn why didn’t you wake me up?” he chastises, trying not to come across as too aggressive despite the way his heart is starting to pound in his chest. Leaders don’t yell. They remain calm and handle the situation. Still, someone has been on their property. Someone had the audacity to infringe on their privacy, not a yard’s distance between this interloper and his teenage sisters. 

Brinn shrugs, suddenly very interested in her glass of water. “I don’t think he was trying to do anything wrong. He wasn’t going to hurt us. He just needed a place to sleep.”

“Anyway he’s been doing it all week and he hasn’t tried to break in yet,” Hyllan interrupts, chin tilted in defiance. She doesn’t like the idea of Brinn being scolded, no matter how well deserved.

Hux stares in stunned silence. “A week. There’s been a man sleeping in our barn for a week.”

“We don’t even use it!” Hyllan protests.

“Oh my God.” Hux lets his head fall forward, hands trembling where they grip his cutlery. “Alright. Okay. This is fine. I’m sure it’s fine. I’ll...take care of it, I’ll handle everything.”

Brinn bites her lip, pretty little face clouded with worry. “Don’t get yourself hurt, Huxxy.”

Hux frowns, fingering the handle of his knife. “I’m not the one you need to worry about.”

That night he sees the girls to bed and makes sure their doors are locked tight before heading downstairs into the kitchen. Behind the stove there’s a magnetic strip that holds all of their knives in place, ranging from a thin jam knife to a massive meat cleaver for breaking up chicken carcasses and chops with large bones. He carefully grabs the fillet knife. It’s long and mean and has a wicked looking curved blade, noticeably sharp and dangerous. That’s what he wants. He wants this transient in their barn to take one look and go running, to never come back.

With the knife in hand he slips into the back yard. It’s easy enough to find a place to hide. There are so many trees on their property that all he has to do is pick one, gripping the knife blade between his teeth and lifting himself into one of the hanging oaks. The leaves and branches shield him, obstructing him from view while leaving him with a clear shot of the barn. He takes a deep breath and settles in to wait.

The night slips by like a low rolling fog across damp grass. It creeps and seeps past with no real sense of urgency, no purpose but to move at its own pace. The scent of confederate jasmine is thick in the air, dulling his senses and lulling him into a sort of stupor. He catches himself falling asleep far too many times. With a huff he adjusts on the branch that bears his weight, blinking hard and refocusing on the line of trees in the distance.

Not another hour passes before he sees the man.

From this far away all he can really make out is terrible posture and a mass of black, shaggy hair. The man seems to carry something over his shoulder as he slinks out of the trees and into the barn, drawing the door shut behind him. As silently as possible Hux drops from the tree and creeps forward. He’s got the knife gripped so tight that his knuckles are starting to ache. Every nerve ending is awake and prepared, every instinct urges him on and demands he protect his family.

Hux draws in a deep breath, holding it in as he presses his ear to the barn door. He can hear something...wet inside. A disgusting sort of slurping, and then the dull thud of what sounds like a fist on flesh. His stomach churns at the thought. His free hand shakes as he lifts it, grabbing the latch to the door and using it to pull it open.

Two black eyes jerk up to stare at him.

This...man, this thing, it isn’t right. That’s the first thought Hux can process. There’s no white to its eyes, no iris, just two shining black orbs peering at him from under a stern knitted brow. The features are humanlike. There’s a long and prominent nose, high cheekbones, a scattering of freckles and moles over olive skin. The mouth seems normal until the creature draws its full lips back in a snarl. Hux chokes on a cry.

Razor sharp teeth, caked with gore and dripping with blood, peek out from a mouth too wide. His eyes flick down to the poor wounded animal in the creature’s hands, a doe or something, there’s not enough left for Hux to be able to say for sure. All he can really make of it is a headless torso with broken limbs splayed out every which way, and a sickly smell that chokes down his throat and turns his stomach.

He thinks of his sisters, hopefully asleep in bed, and raises the knife. “You need to go,” he chokes, not sounding the least bit confident as he points the blade at the thing. “You need...you need to _go_. Get the fuck away from my family and don’t come back.” 

A sound that seems suspiciously like a laugh bubbles out from the thing’s throat. It raises onto its feet, showing off its impressive height and uncommon build. The arms and legs are too long, the shoulders hunched forward. The hands are large, too large. Huge and bony and ending in fingertips that look more like talons than anything. It steps forward, cocking it’s head to the side.

“Need...to go,” it mimics, eyes wide. “Come back.”

Hux wants to vomit. He can’t tell if the creature is mocking him or simply is unable to do anything but replicate sound. “Get the _fuck_ off of our property,” he shouts, taking a step forward.

And oh, that was the wrong thing to do. The creature doesn’t like him moving closer. It flicks its shag of black hair back, eyes glinting for a moment before it lunges forward. That long and awkward body smacks hard into Hux, tackling him to the ground and hovering over him. Hux is fairly sure this is it, he’s going to die. He can smell the copper-rust stench of blood coming from the creature’s mouth, can feel its hot breath as it leans in and sniffs along his neck. 

But it doesn’t bite. Instead it sniffs him again, draws back, and watches Hux with wide curious eyes.

Hux stares for the merest beat of a second before swinging his arm up and burying the knife in the creature’s throat.

The effect is instantaneous. The monster makes a gurgling, choking noise, coughing as blood bubbles into its throat and slips past its mouth. It lands on Hux’s face in fat red droplets, slipping down his cheeks and into his hair. Acting on instinct he pulls the knife out and stabs it back into the creature’s chest. The moment the knife withdraws he’s baptised in blood, coated in a thick red spray from whatever vein or artery he hit, from his soft red hair to well past his shoulders and chest. 

Whatever this thing is, it gasps a pathetic sound before slumping on top of Hux, dead.

Hux wants to cry. It’s not an instinct he feels often, but it overwhelms him as he shifts the carcass off of him and rises, shaking, to his feet. He looks down to get a better look at his opponent. It’s so odd, despite the hideous _wrongness_ of the creature there’s almost a beauty that unsettles Hux. The face is so delicate, so oddly handsome. He retches out a pathetic gagging noise, shaking his head before staggering inside to clean up. He’ll deal with the body in the morning. Right now he needs a hot shower and a very strong drink.

-

“Did you see the man last night?”

Hux sits at the dining table, head hanging in exhaustion. He hasn’t slept a wink. The moment he was clean enough to relax he’d been so consumed by the horror of what happened that he’d drunk himself stupid, working his way through half a bottle of whiskey before he felt numb enough to forget. Now he’s nursing a strong black coffee and debating how he’s going to handle burying that thing.

“It wasn’t a man,” he mutters. “It was an animal. Some kind of bear, you must have seen it walking upright and thought it was a person.”

Hyllan looks horrified. “Did you kill it?”

“I did,” Hux murmurs. “It was attacking another animal, it won’t do to have a hungry bear poking around the property.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Brinn sighs. “Still, it’s sad.”

Once the girls are fed he sends them along on their day and steels himself for what he has to do. With a creeping dread he walks outside, grabbing the shovel propped against the house and dragging it along behind him as he heads for the barn. He takes a deep breath of fresh, clear air, preparing himself for the stench of death as he opens the door.

The body is gone. So is the animal it was eating when he surprised it. Hux drops the shovel and runs back to the house.

-

“And you don’t think another animal dragged it away after you’d gone inside?”

Hux sits with his friend Phasma on his balcony, nursing another whiskey like it’s the only thing keeping him tethered to reality. Phasma is an excellent friend to have in times like this. He’d met her fairly recently after they’d moved into town, and the two had hit it off immediately. She works in a gay bar, the kind the locals swarm to because of the excellent Yelp reviews. Phasma often reminisces about the days before Yelp, when her bar was a simple neighborhood lesbian hangout and she didn’t have to keep asking people where they’re from and who they’re in town to see to earn decent tips. Oh well. She nabbed Hux a job there and now they work the weekends together, flirting for tips and bitching about the tourists when they’re too drunk to notice. 

“I’d know,” he sighs, shaking his head. He doesn’t have any furniture out there, they sit on the floor with their legs crossed and a bottle passing back and forth between them. If it weren’t for his sisters they’d be high and he’d finally be able to relax. “There was no dragging, no blood outside of the barn.” He shakes his head, taking another burning sip. “I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.”

Phasma takes his glass away, leaning in and fixing him with her steely gaze. “Listen to me, Hux. Just because you don’t know the explanation doesn’t mean there isn’t one. I need you to sober up, grow a pair, and stop being a bitch about this. Monsters aren’t real. It was just some animal and you took care of it. Everything is fine.”

Hux chews his lip for a moment before snatching the glass out of her hand and taking another sip. “I hope you’re right.”

-

That night they learn their parents’ return has been pushed back by another week. For the first time in his life Hux laments their absence, as terrible as his father is he’s at least a pillar of strength and no-nonsense calm. He once more goes about the motions of acting head of the house, feeding the girls and making sure they’re in bed at a decent time before he retires to his own room. It’s obvious he won’t be falling asleep at a normal hour himself so he chooses a book and sprawls out on his bed, trying to find a comfortable position as he settles in to read.

The book isn’t anything whimsical or deep, he can’t take that right now. His mind needs facts and realism. He chooses an old book on the War of 1812, letting the dates and battles and names of war heroes calm him as his mind takes the facts and comprehends them willingly. There’s nothing to question, nothing frightening about this. He understands.

It works so well that he falls asleep without really intending to. And then the dreams begin. 

Hux is no stranger to dreaming. For a man with such an austere outlook on life he dreams vividly; they’re grand, sweeping fantasies that leave him feeling empty and aching for a life unlived when he wakes in the morning, forced to return to the normalcy and colorlessness of his real life. This is not one of those dreams. This is a nightmare.

His arms are submerged to mid-forearm in something sticky and warm, a strange viscous fluid that coats his skin with slickness. He withdraws his hands to stare at them in wonder. Something in the back of his mind tells him that this is blood, that he should be alarmed, but he is not. He is only curious and...oddly...vaguely...hungry? With a horrified start he lowers his hands quickly, wiping his palms on the front of his pants. This won’t do. It won’t do to lose his head, to frighten so easily over a little bit of a mess.

The body before him coughs and sputters and springs up, gore falling from the open crevasse in its chest. With a jagged moan Hux realizes it’s the monster from before. Those lips split into a grin, those vicious teeth are sharp and dripping, and his own hands are coated in the creature’s blood.

Hux is jerked out of his nightmares by the very real presence of a warm, heavy weight on top of him. In his half-conscious daze he thinks that maybe he’s tangled himself in the blankets and that’s what restricts his motion. He kicks out one leg and comes in contact with another. One that isn’t attached to his own body. One that isn’t his.

He opens his eyes and his mouth to scream, but before any sound can come out a too-large hand clamps down over his mouth. He brings his fists up, attempting to beat the intruder off, but both his wrists are grabbed by another hand and held over his head. He takes a shuddering breath, focusing his eyes on the face above his own.

It’s the creature from last night.

Somehow he looks more...human than he did in the barn. Perhaps that’s due to the fact that his eyes appear normal now, hazel-brown irises surrounded by a healthy (normal) amount of sclera. He looks down at Hux with a curiosity that clearly says, “You? How did you manage to beat me?”

The creature leans down, licking his lips before pressing them close to Hux’s ear. “If I move my hand you have to promise not to scream.”

Hux considers his options. He could lie, could call for help as soon as his mouth is freed. But then what? The girls will come rushing in straight to the arms of this nightmare of a man. No, sometimes it’s better to negotiate. He takes a slow breath through his nose before managing a small nod. Immediately the hand moves away from his mouth. He can see enough in the dim moonlight filtering in through the balcony doors that the hands are still...wrong. Last night they’d been coated in blood. Now that he can see them better they’re not much different. Instead of red and dripping with gore they’re an odd dusky black. He can see that the fingers aren’t sharpened claws, but instead the digits themselves end in impossible points. It’s all so wrong, so hellish. He swallows hard, looking up at the man.

“What do you want?” he chokes, trying to sound braver than he feels.

The man leans in, unnecessarily close as his eyes flick over Hux’s face. Hux tries to keep as still as possible. He’s afraid that a sudden movement might set the beast off, might draw forth those vicious teeth and gaping jaws that he was introduced to last night.

The man sits back on his heels, kneeling over Hux’s lap. “I wanted to see you.” One of those strange hands lifts up, touching a nasty looking scar just under his jaw. Hux realizes with horror that the mark is where he plunged the knife in just the night before. It’s far too healed to make any sense, what is this curiosity hovering above him?

He reminds himself to stay calm. He is, first and foremost, a Hux. “You need to leave,” he says, voice hushed in the darkness. “My sisters are sleeping down the hall and I won’t have you frightening them. Go, and this time I won’t bleed you like a stuck pig.”

At that the monster laughs, tipping his head back and chuckling to the ceiling. “Yes, that. That was very good, you know. Most men don’t get close enough to actually hurt me.”

“What...are you?” Hux practically whispers, eyes wide.

The creature studies him thoughtfully, large hands splayed over his thighs. He wears only a pair of threadbare blue jeans, faded and worn and barely holding together. His torso, much like any other man’s, is broad and strong and muscular. He considers Hux below before speaking. “I’m what I am. I have no answer for you to simplify it.”

As if that makes Hux feel any better.

“Why were you hiding in our barn?” he demands. When he tries to sit up one of those coal-black hands grabs his shoulder and pushes him back down. While it isn’t particularly violent it doesn’t leave room for discussion. “We own this entire property until the line of trees. What right do you have to sneak around our home like that?”

Again, the creature laughs. Hux is beginning to find the noise irritating. “Ownership is a funny thing.” He reaches up with a dangerous fingertip, drawing it along the line of Hux’s throat. It’s bitterly sharp and only a small push away from rending his flesh and sending his blood spraying up and out and all over the thing above. Hux doubts he himself would live to tell of it.

“Alright, if you won’t answer that, why are you here?” Hux’s marsh-green eyes hold a challenge as they look up at him. “If you wanted to kill me you would have by now.” The warm weight of the creature presses him firm into the mattress, and with a sort of mounting horror Hux realizes that his body is starting to react. “And why are you so damned close to me?”

The creature’s mouth splits into a wide grin. He leans down, so close that their noses almost touch. “Because I like you,” he whispers, eyes glinting. With those words spoken he is gone, loping towards the door in long, awkward strides.

“Wait!” Hux sits up in his bed, scrambling to kneel at the edge just as the creature opens his balcony door. “Do you have a name?”

Those dark, curious eyes turn to him once more, studying his face for meaning. “Kylo,” he says softly. “They used to call me Kylo.” With that he’s gone, curtains fluttering in the light breeze as Hux stares in horror past his open balcony.

Suffice it to say that Hux doesn’t sleep again that night. The girls catch on as soon as they see him in the morning, pointing out his sallow complexion and the bags under his eyes. 

“Huxxy you don’t look well,” Brinn says with a frown as he sips his black coffee and hunches over at the dining table. “Maybe you should stay in bed today.” Sunlight streams in through the windows in amber-gold slices, the trees outside in the yard rustling and swaying gently in the light breeze. Hux debates taking his coffee outside until he remembers what lurks beyond their property.

He stifles a yawn, rubbing his eyes with the hand not clutching his mug. “Absolutely not. Lying in bed is a complete waste of a day. I’m not ill, I just didn’t sleep well last night. I’ll be fine.” He’s normally not so curt with the girls, but the events of the previous night gnaw at him like some horrible vermin nibbling at his mind. “What do you two intend to do with your morning?”

Brinn immediately launches into some long detailed plans that seem to have something to do with taking all of their old t-shirts and repurposing them into throw pillows. Hux nods and tries not to yawn through it, nursing his coffee and listening with as much attention as he can musters. “Very good. Sewing is a wise talent to master.”

“Can you sew?” Hyllan asks pointedly.

Hux levels her with his stare. “As a matter of fact I can. I taught myself when a button fell off of one of my suits and I didn’t have time to take it to a tailor.” As an afterthought he sticks his tongue out at her, earning a giggle from both girls. “Alright go put your dishes in the kitchen and get out of here, I need a day that involves nothing but silence and my books.” He allows each girl to kiss one of his cheeks, exaggerating a roll of his eyes before they’re off and upstairs for the day.

-

Before bed Hux is careful to lock his balcony doors. He struggles to keep his eyes lowered, loathe to look up and peer past the glass into the night. The mere idea of it sends a prickle of fear through his body as he tugs at the door to test the bolts. All he can picture is letting his gaze wander just in time to see someone, some thing, on the other side of the door. He jerks his hands up frantically, yanking the curtains shut tight.

Next to his bed on the small side table is a glass of water and a little white pill. He stole it from his mother’s room, tipping a few of the capsules into his hand and carrying them back to hide among his things. It’s a sleeping pill, a fairly strong one. His mother is damn near addicted but he’s sure she won’t miss such a very few. It’s for a good cause, he’ll never sleep without them.

He sits on the edge of his bed, pill halfway to his lips when he hears the handle on the balcony doors turn. There’s a rattling noise and a frustrated growl before something taps on his window. Panic floods his system, sweat beading at the back of his neck and along his temples. He attempts to ignore the sound. The tapping continues, soon followed by an irritated “hey.” With a hard swallow he braces himself and turns.

Kylo is standing on his balcony, profoundly irritated. When he notices Hux looking he stands up taller, eyes going wide as he motions for him to open the door. Hux has never felt such strong confliction in his entire life. On one hand, he knows that letting a monster into your bedroom is a foolish thing to do, whether you actually believe in monsters or not. On the other hand Kylo doesn’t seem nearly as volatile as he was that first night. Wouldn’t it be wise to keep him calm and happy? With a deep sigh Hux stands, walking over and opening the doors.

“Yes?”

Kylo frowns as he walks in, stalking over to perch on Hux’s desk chair. Naturally he doesn’t sit like a normal man. His ridiculously long feet prop up on the edge of the seat, fingers gripping the chair between them. He leans in, eyebrows knit together.

“Why was your door locked?” he asks, tone accusatory. Hux is immediately reminded of his last boyfriend - the one who constantly needed to know where he was, who he was with, and what he was doing. Hux isn’t fond of being interrogated, it doesn’t matter much to him whether or not his questioner is human or beast.

“Because I chose for it to be,” he sniffs, shrugging on elegant shoulder. Moving to sit on the edge of the bed, he folds his arms protectively over his chest. “Why on earth are you so eager to come in?”

Kylo smiles at the question, a dirty thing that seems to writhe under Hux’s skin. He moves close, dropping to kneel at Hux’s feet. From here he can see the multitude of colors in Kylo’s eyes; mossy greens, murky blues, a few flecks of brilliant gold that seem out of place among the deeper, darker tones. It almost distracts him from Kylo’s answer. “Because I wanted to see you.” He says it like a hymnal, soft and sweet and deceptive and whispered into Hux’s thigh as he rests his shark chin on a trembling knee.

Hux swallows, torn between fight and flight. “Any why is that, Kylo?”

Eyes as treacherous and consuming as the swamps beyond their property flicker up, studying Hux with curiosity. “Because you’re afraid of me, and yet you don’t run.”

The confession hits like a blow as Hux is faced with his own stupidity. Should he run? Running has never felt like much of an option to him, really. He has forever been raised to face his fears head on. There’s a difference, though, between a fear of public speaking and a real, live monster in your bedroom. 

Kylo softens his gaze, looking up at Hux with the same pleading eyes as that damned puppy Hyllan used to have when they were young. “May I stay?” It’s a ploy, Hux can see that from a mile away, and yet…

“Fine.” He chokes the word out like some barbed weapon meant to drive Kylo away and right back out his window. “You may sit in the desk chair. You may not touch me.”

Kylo grins triumphantly, awkward limbs moving with no small lack of grace as he scrambles for the chair. Hux scoots further up the bed, drawing the blankets around like they might somehow protect him from not only Kylo, but his own foolish weakness. He can’t even place what’s made him say yes. To allow an apex predator into his own private space at such a vulnerable time. He sighs, propping up his pillows behind him so he can sit up more comfortably. “I have a question.”

Tilting his head indulgently, Kylo smirks towards Hux. “Yes?”

Hux is unsure if there’s proper etiquette for asking questions such as the one he’s about to pose, he can’t imagine it’s asked often enough to warrant societal guidelines. Still, he presses on. “I stabbed you in the neck and chest. I watched you die. How are you...how are you here?”

A long, sharp finger taps against the desk as Kylo regards the question. “I don’t die,” he says after a moment, as if that is answer enough.

“Yes but _why_?”

Kylo laughs, shaking his stringy black hair out of his face. “I don’t know, boy.”

Bristling at being called ‘boy,’ Hux realizes that he never gave Kylo his own name. “My name is Hux. And I’m no boy.”

A laugh in response. “Of course you’re not. Hux.” Kylo hisses out his name in a way that makes Hux feel like he’s lying before him, naked and exposed. He pulls the covers up to his chin.

“Fine. Next question. When I saw you two nights ago you were...feral. Mindless. Now you’re practically a man, you can speak and think and carry yourself almost like a person would. What’s changed?”

Kylo plucks up a book from the desk, giving a half-interested hum as he flips through the pages. There’s an odd delicacy in the way his hands move. They’re severe, dangerous looking things, and yet they’re so careful not to rend or tear the fragile pages. He answers without turning his eyes away from the book.

“I was hungry.”

Another thin line of fear runs through Hux, turning his mouth to ash and dust as his skin prickles with nervous energy. He is reminded that no matter how human Kylo seems right now, he is not. He is an animal at best and a demon at worst, and Hux has let him into his bedroom. “I think...I’m going to go to sleep now,” he says slowly, smoothing his palms over his duvet.

Kylo looks up, staring for a moment before nodding and going back to the book. “Alright.”

Hux frowns, hands fisting in the bedding. “So you need to go.”

“Oh.” Kylo finally sets the book down, standing and looking completely awkward as he looks between Hux and the window. Like he’s trying to decide if it’s worth putting up an argument. He finally moves to leave, stalking over to the balcony and using one of those strange hands to open the door. “Goodnight, Hux. Sleep well.”

 _I’ll be lucky if I ever sleep again,_ Hux thinks to himself, watching Kylo launch himself over the balustrade to the yard below. As soon as he’s gone Hux shoots up, locking the door and shoving his chair tight under the door handles.

-

It happens the same way every night after that; every night he’s careful to lock the balcony doors, drawing the curtains shut and returning to bed. Every night just a few minutes later there’s a gentle tapping on the window that signifies Kylo is outside and waiting for entrance. For a brief moment he’ll play hard to get, pretend he doesn’t hear, and then he’ll show benevolence and let the strange creature into his bedroom. They talk, ask questions of each other, share plenty of awkward silences...and then Hux sends Kylo away and goes to sleep. 

It begins to consume his days just as it does his nights. He can’t run in the morning without throwing glance after glance to the line of trees behind the houses, wondering if Kylo is watching him, waiting for the sun to set so he can return. As he eats he wonders if Kylo is eating as well, tearing into some poor unassuming animal or - worse - some poor unassuming person. It’s madness, this strange tale of the monster that comes to his balcony every night to be freely allowed inside.

They’re a strange sort of Romeo and Juliet.

That evening he finds himself waiting at his desk chair, the doors open and the curtains gently dancing in the breeze as he anticipates Kylo’s arrival. He feels completely foolish at the way anxiety is pooling and writhing in the pit of his stomach but he can’t seem to help himself. He’s prepared thoroughly for the monster’s arrival tonight as if he’s being picked up for prom; his hair has been carefully washed and styled, his face freshly shaved. He’s even made sure to trim his nails. He can’t explain why but he’s come to look forward to these strange, stupid visits, no matter how foolish he feels for letting them happen in the first place. 

Naturally tonight's the night that Kylo doesn’t show.

At first Hux doesn’t notice as time begins to slip by, the clock ticking past the hour of their usual meeting as Hux gets distracted by writing in his journal. He’s careful to never call the situation what it is, instead writing of Kylo as a strange, “wrong side of the tracks” type of boy he met at the bar. He needs to be sure that no one finds his journal, reads it, and thinks him totally mad. As long as he himself can look back and remember, that’s all he needs.

He looks up and realizes it’s almost one in the morning and that Kylo is nearly two hours late. Setting his journal down he walks to the balcony and looks out over the yard. Everything is quiet. Still. Just beyond the wall he can see the cemetery looming, the gravestones breaking up the horizon and jutting out of the ground like jagged, broken teeth. He sighs and checks his watch before shutting the doors and tucking himself into bed.

He should have known better than to get into a routine with something that isn’t supposed to exist. With a sour turn of his lips he pulls the blankets high over himself and falls asleep.

“Hux…”

He jolts awake at some strange, unknown hour to his name being whispered in his ear. It’s a sibilant hiss, hot breath stroking over the side of his neck as he’s jolted from his slumber. There’s a large hand on his hip, a large hand with sharp fingertips digging slightly into his skin through the thin cotton of his boxers.

Hux swallows hard, willing his heart to slow. “Kylo?”

There is a brief pause before he can feel lips graze over his neck and just behind his ear, the creature behind him drawing a deep breath. Scenting him. Having already hit his limit of nonsense for the evening Hux reaches over, clicking the lamp on and turning onto his back so he can better look at Kylo while he chastises him. Instead he stops as he’s met with obsidian black eyes and teeth sharpened to wicked points.

His brain flashes through a myriad of situations; he could grab the lamp and swing for Kylo’s head. He could slip away and run, grab the girls and barricade them into one of the bathrooms. He could be torn to shreds without so much as a “by your leave.” The only real conclusion he comes to is that he isn’t going to fight his way out of this, so he might as well implore upon the creature’s apparent fondness for him.

“Kylo,” he says softly, inwardly cursing himself for the way his voice trembles. “Kylo, have you eaten recently?” He’s ashamed of the worry he feels in place of self-preservation. 

Kylo’s head tilts to the side, eyes flickering over Hux’s face. He leans in, drawing the tip of his nose along Hux’s jawline as he breathes deep once more. Oh yes, Hux is definitely being scented. At any second those vicious looking teeth are going to open wide and snap down, tear into the flesh of his throat and rip out his jugular. He can see it in his mind, the way his body jerks and trembles as blood sprays across Kylo’s face and into his open, grinning mouth.

Instead Kylo presses his lips just to the corner of Hux’s, nuzzling the softest kiss against his mouth.

Hux shoots up, eyes wide as Kylo scrambles back and watches in (what appears to be) terror. “What the bloody hell,” he stammers, raising his hand to his lips to touch where Kylo had kissed him. “What on earth do you think you’re doing? You don’t just show up two hours late for our da-appointment and start kissing me without permission, you bloody great cat.” Kylo shuffles awkwardly to the end of the bed, looking for all the world like a pet being scolded. “Especially when you look like you did the night I tried to murder you in the barn. My God, man, it’s basic human decency.”

Instead of speaking Kylo lets out a pathetic sort of whine, shuffling back and forth and snagging his claws in the duvet. Hux lets out a disgusted sort of sigh, beckoning him closer. “Come here.”

Kylo clearly doesn’t have to be told twice. He lunges forward, gripping Hux’s hand tight in his own as he starts trailing his teeth along the thin skin up near his inner elbow. Hux shivers, biting his lip and watching with a cautious interest. He should be disgusted. Terrified. Instead he’s mesmerized by the way those wide, full lips press to his skin before drawing back to reveal violent looking teeth, the tips of which just barely press into his skin. His eyes flick up, watching Hux as he slowly presses his teeth in.

“If you break my skin I’ll yank your ridiculous teeth out of your head one by one with a pair of pliers,” Hux warns, voice cool and smooth despite the way he watches Kylo with hunger in his eyes.

Immediately those razor-sharp teeth bite down, sinking into the pale skin gripped between them. Hux hisses in pain as Kylo moans softly, tongue laving over the rush of blood to lap every spare droplet of it into his mouth and down his throat. 

Well, this is certainly an odd turn of events.

Hux grabs a handful of Kylo’s hair, yanking back viciously to force the man off and away. Immediately Kylo laughs, lips spreading into a bloody, triumphant smile tinged red with Hux’s blood. Hux lets go of his hair, drawing his hand back like he’s been scalded. How did they get here? What the everloving hell is going on? Once again he can’t help but question his own sanity, this all seems like a strange dream he’s bound to wake up from at any minute.

The dull throb of pain in his bleeding arm reminds him that he’s not going to wake up from this. He sighs and drops his hand, beckoning Kylo close once more. This time the monster moves forward slowly, smearing his blood-stained lips over Hux’s neck and down the front of his bare chest. 

“What the hell do you want from me?” Hux sighs, letting his head drop back and his eyes flutter shut. He lets Kylo push him onto his back, lets his mind wander as warm lips and sharp teeth kiss and nip and suck here and there, mapping a path across his chest. A sharp gasp is drawn from his lips as Kylo curls his tongue over his left nipple, teasing the flesh until it’s peaked and tender.

“Let me make it clear that if you choose to bite me now I will grab the knife hidden under my pillow and jam it through your eye.”

It doesn’t draw the response he expected. Instead of being properly warned Kylo _moans_ , rutting himself against Hux’s shin. It’s odd to feel the creature’s rigid length pressed against him through the threadbare black pants he wears, up until now Hux has seen him as this strange, sexless creature as far from human urges as anything could be. To hear him moan and feel his erection and to get lost in the sensation of that clever, persistent tongue against his skin…

Hux once more tugs at Kylo’s hair, the creature panting as he looks up in confusion. “There are so many reasons why this is a bad idea.” With that being said he drags Kylo forward, crushing their mouths together in a near-painful kiss. He lets Kylo’s tongue press past his lips, rubbing against his own and forcing the coppery tang of blood into his mouth as they suck and kiss and lick into each other. Hux is especially careful of those damn teeth, though he is so bold as to lick along the front of a pointed incisor.

Kylo breaks away first, rubbing the palms of his large, sickly looking black hands over Hux’s thighs. With each stroke upward he moves farther and farther, until his hands are pushing Hux’s boxers higher on his legs. “Mine?” he breathes, eyes wide. “Mine?” His voice is a deep growl, an animalistic purr that’s as beautiful as it is unsettling. Hux doesn’t know if he’s mindless with hunger or lust but he can’t be damned to figure it out. He bites his lip and gives a short nod, gasping as Kylo uses one of those long, talon-like fingers to tear the black fabric of his boxers and rip it from his body. Suddenly he’s completely exposed, cool air tickling over his skin as his cock stands flushed and proud against his stomach.

Lowering himself onto his stomach between Hux’s legs, Kylo licks his lips like he could devour him whole. He leans in to nuzzle against a creamy thigh, dragging his lips in what is less of a kiss, more of a desperation to touch every inch of Hux with his parted lips and curious tongue. “Mine,” he sighs, nipping at the juncture of hip and thigh.

That’s an issue that Hux will have to address at a later time. For now he spreads his legs wider, one foot falling off the side of his bed as he licks his lips and watches with heavy lidded eyes. He’s curious as to what Kylo has planned for him, what could such a strange thing know about sex and desire? 

Apparently enough, because suddenly Kylo is pushing one leg up to his chest and nibbling along the tender skin where his ass curves into his thigh. It’s an area that’s always been fairly...sensitive for Hux. He gasps and arches his back, sucking on his lower lip as pinpricks of pain flair along his skin when Kylo nips at him. “Watch the damn teeth,” he sighs, toes curling when Kylo sucks at the marks he’s left behind. Another flutter of light kisses trail inward until…

“O-oh.” Kylo’s tongue, clever and wicked and sure, flicks lightly over Hux’s hole. He shivers, cock twitching against his stomach. He has to admit that he doesn’t have much experience in this particular act of debauchery, he’s only ever had the one boyfriend who was into it and he wasn’t very good. This though, this feels sinfully nice. Kylo just barely teases him with kitten soft licks, every now and then pressing and prodding against the tight furl of muscle and moaning whenever Hux responds to the touch. 

His hand works its way down between his legs, grabbing Kylo by the hair and tugging forcefully. “More,” he gasps, surprised at the deep, velvety tone his own voice has taken in his lust. Kylo spreads him apart, braces him with those terrifyingly large hands, and presses in with his tongue. A shock of lust shoots hot up Hux’s spine and seems to wipe his mind into an overwhelming sort of blank whiteness. He can’t see, can’t hear. All he can focus on is the sensation of Kylo between his legs, the feel of sharp fingertips pressing into his skin and spreading him apart.

Just before he asks Kylo to touch him he remembers what that would entail, shivering slightly at the imagined pain that those hands might cause. His length twitches and precome drools at the mere thought, but he quickly pushes the idea from his head for later consideration. Instead he spits into his own palm, wrapping his trembling fingers around his shaft and working himself with no real urgency. He doesn’t mind taking his time, letting this drag on. Kylo seems happy enough to taste and kiss and suck at such an intimate area, Hux certainly isn’t going to rush it. He slides his thumb over his leaking tip, huffing out a trembling breath as he rocks his hips slowly into the sensation.

“K-Kylo,” he stammers, his tongue heavy and useless in his own mouth. “Oh God, harder, it’s good…”

Kylo seems to redouble his efforts, movements becoming sloppy and frantic as he hears the desperation in Hux’s voice. He works his tongue deep, squeezing the sweet curve of his ass and moaning helplessly as ruts down against the mattress. Like an animal. Something inhuman. A monster. Hux throws his head back and muffles his cry by biting down on his free hand, sharp enough to draw blood as he spills into his fist. His hips give a few more feeble twitches up before he suddenly feels completely spent, sinking into the mattress.

As the air chills the sweat on his skin he can’t help but wonder what he’s done.

Kylo shuffles up, taking Hux’s hand and licking at the mess between his fingers. When he’s done lapping up his come he takes the other hand, sucking at the blood Hux had drawn with his own teeth.

“Greedy thing,” Hux murmurs, unable to help the fondness that creeps into his voice. He winds his fingers through Kylo’s hair, pulling him down and tangling their tongues in a lazy kiss. When Kylo goes to pull away he tugs him back, nipping at his bottom lip. “Mm. Your turn?”

Kylo gives a small shake of his head, about to pull back completely before surging forward and kissing Hux once more. It’s a long minute before he’s done, crawling backwards off of the bed and drawing to his full height. Hux frowns, sitting up.

“But you didn’t…’ Before he can finish the sentence Kylo is out the window and loping across the lawn in his strange way, disappearing into the trees in the distance. Hux bites his lower lip, shaking his head. “I make poor life decisions,” he mutters, shutting the doors and returning to bed to consider his choices.

-

Three days go by without word from Kylo. Hux has the audacity to worry about him, furious with himself for fussing over some nightmare man with poor manners and violent mood swings depending on whether or not he’s recently consumed flesh. Still, he can’t seem to help it. He makes a point to leave his doors open every night, makes a point to stay up late reading on the balcony in hopes that Kylo will see him and come running. Nothing, though. Three days turn into four, then five, then suddenly a week has gone by and he’s genuinely beginning to worry.

“Whatever boy you’re sulking over, I hope you’re not bringing him around with the girls here,” his father says brusquely one morning as his parents once more prepare for a trip out of town. They’ve never traveled this much; it’s fairly clear that they’ve finally found a way out of parenthood and they’re taking every opportunity possible to hit the road. 

Hux sighs, shaking his head. “No sir. Of course not, sir.” He waits until his father’s back is turned to roll his eyes. “It’s just the three of us here. I don’t bring anyone around.”

“Good. See you keep it that way.”

That night he takes the girls out for a movie, desperate for some fresh air and a chance to distract himself from reality. He lets the girls choose, so naturally they end up seeing some silly teen comedy about mistaken identity and the power of friendship or something similar. There may or may not have been a talking dolphin. He can’t remember. Anyway it does the trick and by the time they’re getting ice cream afterwards he feels a bit lighter, less distracted. He even manages to laugh a little as the girls poke fun at the main characters and their foolishness.

By the time they get home it’s late and the house is pitch dark. He locks the door carefully behind them, half-listening to Hyllan chatter about going school shopping soon and all of the new styles she intends to try out. Just as he goes to remind her that she’ll be wearing a uniform they hear noise coming from the kitchen.

Brinn immediately squeaks, hugging Hux’s arm. “What was that?” she whispers, already trembling. The girl spooks like a skittish foal, nowhere near as bold as Hyllan, who’s already stalking boldly towards the noise. Hux rolls his eyes, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her back.

“Behind me, please,” he orders. “Stay here.” Any other day he’d be on his guard, but he’s sure Kylo has just gotten bold and moved downstairs looking for him. He’s ready to give the man a piece of his mind - his sisters don’t know anything about him and wouldn’t be able to keep their mouths shut if they did, Hux can’t risk him being seen. He draws a deep breath, balling his hands into fists and striding into the kitchen.

“Excuse me, asshole, did I not tell you…”

The man standing in the kitchen and going through their things is not Kylo. Hux doesn’t know _who_ he is. His face is covered in a bandana, hat pulled low over his ears, clothing all black. He has what most certainly appears to be a gun, one he quickly points in Hux’s direction. “You weren’t supposed to be home,” the intruder hisses, taking a few steps forward.

Hux draws a deep breath, relaxing his hands and holding them up carefully. “We just got home. Listen I’ve got two young sisters and I don’t want any trouble. Just take what you have and go, I won’t call the cops.” Which is a bold lie, Hux intends to have this man arrested and put to death for daring to touch their things. He doesn’t need to know that though, not yet.

The man looks skittish, like his bravado has been shattered by their return. “Shit. Shit shit shit.” His hand is shaking as he brandishes the gun, still pointing it in Hux’s direction. “Look. Just. Go in the other room.” When Hux doesn’t move he raises the gun, striking him hard across the face with the butt. “Now!”

“I’m going, relax,” Hux says slowly. He walks backwards until they’re in the foyer once more. He puts the girls behind him, swallowing hard as they whimper and clutch at him once he’s close enough. He’s pissed. It’s one thing to try to intimidate him, he’s not so easily frightened. But the girls? This son of a bitch is going to pay. “Listen,” he says between clenched teeth. “I have five-hundred dollars in my wallet. I’ll give you that and you can go.”

“No,” the man says, voice trembling. “How do I know you won’t call the cops? I’ll take one of those girls with me, and when I’m far enough away I’ll let her go.” He points to Brinn, waving her over. “You, get over here.”

Hux steps in front of her before she can be coerced into taking a step. “You’re not taking one of the girls,” he says, voice hard and cold. “I’m being incredibly kind to you but my patience is wearing thin. You need to leave before I really get angry.”

Three things happen at once, very quickly. The man raises the gun and Hux goes to grab it, pushing the barrel up just in time for it to go off towards the ceiling. As the shot is fired a dark blur flies out of nowhere, slamming into the stranger and knocking him to the ground. Hyllan and Brinn scream out in terror and Hux slowly realizes what’s happening.

“Kylo no!” he cries, stepping back and forcing the girls against the wall. “Look away,” he commands as the first terrified shriek of the intruder cuts through the darkness. “Do you hear me? Don’t look!” 

While he can’t say whether or not the girls have obeyed, he himself can’t tear his eyes away. The arm that held the gun is now detached from the body, laying a few feet away and oozing blood onto their expensive Persian rug. The stump left where the arm used to be sprays the red, sticky stuff across the floor, flecking their shoes and falling into dark puddles that make a gruesome path to where Kylo has his teeth locked around a screaming throat. There is a growl and a sickening sort of crunch and the screaming stops.

Hux swallows hard, dazed. “Oh my God.”

Kylo slowly looks up, in one brief moment shifting from feral to sheepish. “Are...you alright?” he asks slowly. He doesn’t look hungry and mindless like he did the other night, his eyes are that normal looking hazel though his teeth are pointed and slick with blood. He’s wearing a shirt (where did he get a shirt?) and those same ratty old pants, and the way he turns his head down and steps back makes him look almost embarrassed to be seen this way. Good, he ought to be. Not that Hux isn’t grateful, but now the twins have seen him and they never keep their mouths shut about anything. How is he going to play this off?

“Girls,” Hux says slowly. “Don’t look.” 

A derisive snort comes from over his left shoulder and he’s suddenly being pushed out of the way. “Huxxy _move_.” Hyllan rushes forward, stepping over the body of the robber like she would step over a branch in the yard. She carefully reaches out, taking one of Kylo’s monstrous looking hands. “Are you alright?” she coos, careful and slow as if she’s speaking to a frightened child. “That was very brave, thank you for saving us.”

Brinn is right behind her, rushing to grab a towel from the kitchen before returning and dapping at Kylo’s face. “You must be very frightened, you poor dear thing.”

Hux scowls, folding his arms. “He’s not six years old.” Kylo merely smirks, seeming to enjoy the attentions and the way they frustrate Hux. He rolls his eyes, stepping forward. “So there’s a body in my foyer, what do you intend to do about that?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Kylo says simply. 

“Hmph. Yes, do so. Now, please. Girls, upstairs and into my room please, we need to have a discussion.”

In the end it isn’t hard to explain to the girls why they have to keep this all under wraps. Turns out their disdain for their parents is just as strong as Hux’s - smart girls. They have no desire to lose what they clearly already see as their new pet, no matter how Hux insists that they stay away from Kylo and that he’s not some new puppy for them to fawn over. It’s a lost cause. By the time Kylo has dragged the corpse (and the ruined carpet) into the woods they’re discussing making a bed for him in the barn, and when he returns through Hux’s balcony window they rush over to greet him like he’s a soldier returning home from war.

“Hyllan. Brinn,” Hux snaps, clapping his hands together once. “Off to bed. Out of my room. Now.” They’ve just seen a man murdered, he’s trying not to think of how flippant they are over the fact. He scoots them out before turning to Kylo, arms folded. “You. Into the shower.”

Kylo makes a face like Hux has just asked to take a bite out of him. “No.”

It’s a bit like bargaining with a toddler, though Hux admittedly has plenty of ex-boyfriends who are just as recalcitrant. He draws a deep breath and attempts to smooth out his stern brow. “Kylo. I appreciate what you did back there. That could have ended rather badly. But I can’t talk to you when you’re covered in blood like this.” 

Kylo grins, a predatory look in his eye. “Does it frighten you?” 

The question is jarring because it’s so far from the truth. Hux looks from the blood spattered across Kylo’s face and matted in his hair to the gore caked across his bare feet. Hux is going to need a professional cleaner and perhaps a therapist before his parents return home from their latest trip. “No,” he says slowly, voice barely above a whisper. “Because I like it _too_ much and that’s a reality that I’m not yet ready to address.”

Kylo’s face softens at the admission, another curious glimpse of humanity through the horror. He reaches his hand out for Hux, watching silently as the man takes it and leads him into the washroom.

The shower within is nothing special. It’s simple, with a glass door that snaps shut and barely enough room for one, let alone two. Hux turns on the water, letting it run warm as he turns to undress the man behind him. His moves are more reverential than he intends for them to be, careful and calm as he strips Kylo of the shirt that he is now certain came from his own closet. He kneels, unbuttoning threadbare jeans and skimming them down, sighing softly as he politely tries not to stare at Kylo’s now exposed cock.

“Oh, Kylo,” he sighs, pressing a kiss to a sickeningly sharp hipbone before standing to undress himself. “What am I going to do with you?”

Kylo reaches out, using his knuckle to lift Hux’s chin. He leans in, brushing their lips together in the barest promise of a kiss. “Keep me,” he murmurs, and Hux is suddenly pinned by his gaze. “Keep your window open for me at night. Let me come to you at night.” He leans in, nuzzling against Hux’s cheek. “Keep me.”

 

“You make it sound so easy,” Hux breathes, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch. Before he can become lost once more he snaps back, rushing Kylo into the heat and steam of the shower.

While Hux can not possibly know Kylo’s bathing habits, he’d venture to guess that it never happens in an actual shower with actual soap and scalding hot water. He’s almost reverential as he lifts his hands to Kylo’s hair, smiling as he rakes his fingertips over his scalp and earns a satisfied hiss in return. He takes Kylo’s hands one after the other, stroking and cleansing the rough, dark skin and working each strange finger in his palm. He takes his time to examine each new bit of flesh as he cleans it, curious at the way his heart beats like a hummingbird’s wings. Once the task is complete he pushes Kylo back, eyes locked together as the water sluices the soap from the creature’s skin. 

“The other night,” Hux says slowly, shivering as Kylo picks up the soap and clumsily tries to mirror the motions Hux made cleansing his own skin. “That...did I dream that?”

Kylo slowly lifts Hux’s hand, pressing a kiss to the center of his palm. He shakes his head once before their gazes meet and lock. “No, that happened.”

“You were half mad…”

“I was hungry,” Kylo says with a shrug. “But you were the only thing I could think of. I wanted to see you first, before I disappeared to hunt.”

Hux shudders, scraping his teeth over his bottom lip. “Kylo…”

“We’re clean now.” The monster reaches behind Hux, awkwardly fiddling with the knob to cut the flow of water. Hux only just manages to stop him before he drips his way back into the bedroom and onto his fresh sheets. He grabs a towel and roughly dries them both, mouth gone dry as his body anticipates what he knows is coming. The towels are barely back on the rack before Kylo has him, thrown over a sharp shoulder and carried unceremoniously into the bedroom. 

“Kylo,” he gasps, ashamed of the ungraceful rasp that is his voice. “How is this supposed to go? You sweep me off my feet? We fall in love, buy a house in the suburbs, raise a - ah, raise a brood of little monster babies?”

Kylo doesn’t bother to respond. His mouth is busy elsewhere, lapping at the tender flesh of an already stiff nipple and gently tugging the bud between his wicked teeth. When Hux gasps and jerks up he grins, repeating the action with a bit more force. It isn’t until Hux begins to whine in pain at each bite and tug that he relents, soothing the stinging flesh with his tongue.

“If you think we’re not discussing this later you’re mistaken,” Hux groans, voice thin. He rolls his eyes at the smile he can _feel_ against his skin.

Kylo crawls up, sucking a path along Hux’s neck and to his lips, stealing breathless kisses like they somehow might heal him and make him something other than what he is. “You’re so pretty,” he growls, raking sharp fingertips along Hux’s sides. Hux can feel the sharp sting, sure he’ll have welts across his porcelain pale flesh. Kylo doesn’t much care. He continues his litany of praise as he scratches and caresses and continues to mark Hux’s skin. “Your skin is so soft. So perfect.” He lifts his thumb, rubbing at the nipple he’s not yet abused with his mouth. “Hux…”

“Kylo,” he breathes back, eyes fluttering shut. He lets himself sink into the bed, sink into the sensations of being stroked and touched and explored with strange fingers and a greedy tongue. Kylo is nothing if not thorough in his investigations of Hux’s body. He makes sure to taste every inch, to stroke every sensitive place, and to every now and then leave an angry mark that Hux will be able to press into for days as he remembers this night and all the strange things that have led up to it. 

As their mouths once more meet Hux wraps his legs around Kylo’s hips, bringing their bodies together in a tight line from mouth to groin. They rock and thrust together with no real rhythm, startlingly unhurried as their tongues tangle and dance once more.

Hux pulls away, drawing a shaking breath. “Fuck me?” He isn’t normally one to beg, but he can feel Kylo’s hard length pressed between their bodies and he wants nothing more than to be opened and filled with every burning inch of him. Kylo must need it too, because his eyes go that strange sort of dark once more as he frantically nods.

“How...I don’t want to hurt you,” he rasps, tongue flicking out to wet his lips as he studies Hux’s face. Hux reaches up, stroking two fingers across those wide, parted lips as he licks his own.

“Hurt me,” he moans in response, gasping as Kylo takes his fingers in his mouth and bites down. As soon as he’s released he finds himself flipped onto his back, Kylo’s hands splayed out over his hips as he’s forced onto his knees. “There’s...there’s lube in the nightstand,” he pants. “Top drawer.”

In his rush to retrieve the bottle Kylo tears the drawer clear out, contents scattering across the floor as he plucks up the bottle and tries to negotiate the cap. He finally tears the damn thing off with his teeth, tipping the contents onto his length and rutting against Hux’s ass to spread the slick. For a moment Hux panics, finally noting the overwhelming length of Kylo’s prick where it presses against him. He chokes on a breath, biting his lip hard but not for a moment regretting his request for pain.

Kylo nuzzles a kiss behind his ear, draped over Hux’s body as he thrusts lazily against him. “You’re going to be so tight,” he groans. “It’s going to hurt.”

“Just fuck me,” Hux chokes. “Trust me, I’ll hurt you back.”

Kylo seems to rethink their positions, flipping Hux onto his back before grabbing his ankles and splaying his legs wide. He takes his length in hand, rubbing the head against Hux’s tight entrance before ever-so-slowly starting to push in. 

“O-oh,” Hux cries out, biting down on his lip to silence himself. Barely an inch in and it’s already overwhelming. He reaches up to dig his fingernails tight into Kylo’s shoulders, so hard that rivulets of blood well under the tips and drip slowly from Kylo’s skin to his own. He knows he should be startled, ashamed. Somehow, though, blood seems to be the common bond between them. Their entire existence together has been bathed in blood. Instead of withdrawing he slides his fingers through the slick crimson, rubbing it into Kylo’s skin before bringing his fingers to his own lips to suck clean.

For his part Kylo is overwhelmed trying to maintain self-control. He has Hux’s hips in a death-grip, so tight that he swears he can almost feel the grind of bone on bone. The ache is tremendous, and yet he finds himself achingly hard as Kylo works himself in. A slow pull out, a press back in. And another. And another.

Finally Kylo’s length is deep within him and they can only cling to each other, gasping for air as the room seems to spin around them.

Hux swallows, Adam’s apple bobbing. “M-move,” he instructs, though it comes out as more of a pathetic moan. Thankfully Kylo obeys without comment. He starts a slow roll of his hips, barely drawing out before pressing deep once more. His cock rubs perfectly against that sweet bundle of nerves, sparking pleasure all along his body as he gasps and rocks up to meet him. “Fuck yes, just like that…”

Dully, he realizes a sharp aching pain somewhere near his left shoulder. He gasps as he realizes Kylo has his skin clamped tight between his teeth, his own blood flowing freely down his arm and onto the sheets below. With a pained cry he tangles his fingers in Kylo’s hair. He’s wholly unsure if he wants to hold him close or pull him away, the pain and pleasure mingle together to throw him off of his axis and confuse his already weary mind. He settles for reaching down between them, taking his length in hand and slowly stroking heated flesh.

“I’d watched you,” Kylo admits softly, lips smearing blood along his chest. “Since the day you moved in. I was so hungry for you. I wanted to devour you.”

Hux cries out, tugging sharply at his hair. “But y-you didn’t. Oh fuck Kylo deeper…”

Kylo adjusts onto his knees, roughly pulling Hux up so he’s seated in his lap. He somehow manages to slip deeper, earning another helpless cry. “I d-didn’t. Because I couldn’t stop standing below your window and...nnngh...watching you. I wanted to see you as often as I could. And if I hurt you…”

Resting his forehead against Kylo’s, Hux draws in a rattling breath. There seems to be no space for air inside of him, as consumed as he is by lust and pain and pleasure. “If you hurt me I’d be gone.”

Kylo nods, giving a wounded sort of noise that cuts right to Hux’s very soul. Toes curling against the duvet he rocks down, finding the perfect angle to thrust against Kylo so that they’re working in perfect tandem. He feels dizzy. It might be blood loss, might be arousal, but nothing seems to be real save the places on his body where Kylo grips him, kisses him, fucks into him. He’s losing his grip on himself and for once he isn’t scared of not being in control.

“I’m going to come,” he chokes out, eyes rolling towards the ceiling. “K-Kylo I’m going to…”

A large, dangerous hand wraps around his neck. Not pressing, just holding. He realizes that it would be so easy for Kylo to grip just right and tear his throat out, to leave him bleeding and broken across the bedsheets, yet he doesn’t. He simply holds. 

With a pained cry Hux comes, spilling into his own hand as he goes taught in Kylo’s arms. Sparks of light flash before his eyes, muscles tensing and releasing and tensing again as his climax seizes him like a fit. As it passes he’s left barely conscious, nearly unable to register as Kylo gives a few more sharp thrusts before he himself lets go.

Hux drifts like that for some time, floating on a deep, black sea of dizzy satisfaction. 

When he comes to they’re somehow clean and he’s been tucked under the sheets. Kylo sits at the desk chair once more, watching curiously as Hux pushes himself to sitting.

“Why on earth are you over there?” Hux frowns, yawning and stretching like a satisfied cat. 

Kylo looks confused, shrugging one shoulder. “It’s the rule. I sit here. This is where I sit.”

Hux shakes his head, biting back a sigh. Strange, curious thing. “Come here Kylo,” he beckons, pushing the sheets down. “We’re beyond that now, I suppose.” When Kylo moves close once more he pushes and positions until he’s on his back, draping himself over that broad chest and settling against Kylo’s warmth. “Well. What now?”

The silence that follows reminds him that he’s asking the wrong question of the wrong person. Kylo isn’t really a person at all, anyway. Not really. He’s a...well, whatever he is, he’s not going to be the one with the answers. In the morning Hux will need to clean the downstairs landing as much as possible on his own before calling in a professional. He’ll need to swear the girls into secrecy, guilt them if necessary, and make sure that they understand that Kylo will be hunted down and destroyed if they open their silly mouths. He’ll need to either purchase a new rug or come up with a good excuse for why the old one is gone.

For now though, he’s going to sleep curled up around the creature in his bed.

Just outside his balcony doors the breeze rustles a few magnolias loose of their branches. They flutter to the ground, dotting the dark lawn with spots of pink and white that give it all a soft, charming, deeply southern feel that might fool any unsuspecting passerby into thinking it’s all safe and perfect and ideal.

Beyond the trees though, there are monsters.

**Author's Note:**

> You like Kylux? I like Kylux! [Let's be friends on tumblr!](http://that-vicious-vixen.tumblr.com)


End file.
